Climate change threatens the objective of eradicating poverty. Poor people and poor countries are already vulnerable to all types of climate-related shocks—natural disasters that destroy assets and livelihoods; water borne diseases and pests that becomemore prevalent during heat waves, floods, or droughts; crop failure from reduced rainfall; andspikes in food prices that follow extreme weather events.
... See More + Such shocks can erase decades ofhard work and leave people with irreversible human and physical losses. Changes in climateconditions caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will worsen these shocks and slow down poverty reduction. The good news is that, at least until 2030, “good development” can prevent most of these impacts. By “good development,” we mean development that is rapid, inclusive, and climate informed; includes strong social safety nets and universal health coverage; and iscomplemented with targeted adaptation interventions such as heat-tolerant crops and early warning systems. Absent such good development, many people will still be living in or closeto extreme poverty in 2030, with few resources to cope with climate shocks and adapt to longterm trends, and climate change could increase extreme poverty by more than 100 million people by 2030. In the longer run, beyond 2030, our ability to adapt to unabated climate change is limited. To keep the longer-term impacts on poverty in check, immediate emissions-reduction policiesare needed that bring emissions to zero by the end of the 21st century. These policies neednot threaten short-term progress on poverty reduction—provided they are well designed andinternational support is available for poor countries.Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be unprecedented global achievements.But neither can be attained without the other: they need to be designed and implementedas an integrated strategy. Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. The book provides guidance on how to design climate policies so they contribute to poverty reduction, and on how to design poverty reduction policies so they contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building.
See Less -

Climate change threatens the objective of eradicating poverty. Poor people and poor countries are already vulnerable to all types of climate-related shocks—natural disasters that destroy assets and livelihoods; water borne diseases and pests that becomemore prevalent during heat waves, floods, or droughts; crop failure from reduced rainfall; andspikes in food prices that follow extreme weather events.
... See More + Such shocks can erase decades ofhard work and leave people with irreversible human and physical losses. Changes in climateconditions caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will worsen these shocks and slow down poverty reduction. The good news is that, at least until 2030, “good development” can prevent most of these impacts. By “good development,” we mean development that is rapid, inclusive, and climate informed; includes strong social safety nets and universal health coverage; and iscomplemented with targeted adaptation interventions such as heat-tolerant crops and early warning systems. Absent such good development, many people will still be living in or closeto extreme poverty in 2030, with few resources to cope with climate shocks and adapt to longterm trends, and climate change could increase extreme poverty by more than 100 million people by 2030. In the longer run, beyond 2030, our ability to adapt to unabated climate change is limited. To keep the longer-term impacts on poverty in check, immediate emissions-reduction policiesare needed that bring emissions to zero by the end of the 21st century. These policies neednot threaten short-term progress on poverty reduction—provided they are well designed andinternational support is available for poor countries.Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be unprecedented global achievements.But neither can be attained without the other: they need to be designed and implementedas an integrated strategy. Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. The book provides guidance on how to design climate policies so they contribute to poverty reduction, and on how to design poverty reduction policies so they contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building.
See Less -